3 Practices To Help You Improve Your Relationships

“I am happy because I choose to be.”

Relationships are everything, but not every relationship is the same. There are four types of relationships: professional, platonic, family, and romantic. In our professional relationships we deal with our co-workers or colleagues to make business transactions. Our platonic relationships help us to forge friendships. Family relationships are those that we are connected to by birth or by marriage. And, lastly our romantic relationships are the intimate relationships we forge to procreate and have sexual activities.

Depending on the relationship you have in each, will determine your success in each type of relationship. If your cash flow is good, then you have a good relationship to money and perhaps your professional relationships are good. On the other hand if you believe that money is the root-of-all-evil, then perhaps you are financially unstable and insecure.

Relationships are the foundation’s of our existence because they help us improve all aspects of our lives – spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally. As a result, when we invest in healthy relationships, we expand and evolve. Nevertheless, when we neglect our relationships we will not thrive and it will be more challenging to prosper. Below are three practices to help you improve your relationships.

Practice forgiveness: In order to create and sustain healthy relationships we must have an open heart and an open mind. That means if you have a beef with someone or if you are angered because someone has wronged you, let it go. The best thing we can do to free ourselves from the pain that someone has caused us is to forgive them. When we forgive, we become free to love. Our minds become open and available to new and better opportunities. And, we are also able to forge new relationships with more worthy individuals.

Practice gratitude: An attitude of gratitude goes a lot farther than a grumpy disposition. People who are grateful are happier people, and let’s face it, happier people are much better to be around than people who are not. For some, it’s hard to be grateful when perhaps your career isn’t going well, or you’re single when you want to be in a relationship. The thing is there are plenty of things to be grateful for. The fact that you woke up this morning is enough to be happy for. If you don’t think you have anything to be grateful for just start with the simple and yet small things such as: being alive, having a loving family or friends. The thing is the more grateful you are for what you do have, the more life will present you with more things to be grateful for.

Practice Being Happy: As humans, we share an innate desire to be happy. What we fail to understand however is that being happy comes from within – feeling at peace and deeply accepting who we are as an individual. For many of us, being happy with ourselves is a difficult thing to do. Sure, other people play a vital role in our self-esteem and happiness. However, how we feel about ourselves determines the amount of joy and happiness we allow into our lives.

Although it’s usually a long journey for us to gain a deeper sense of self-worth, we can find joy in walking that journey, step by step. We can learn that, because no other person is worth more than we are, no other person’s opinion is worth more than our own. We have nothing to prove to other people because what matters is simply that we approve of ourselves. And we can, fully. We can love ourselves knowing that we are loved deeply by God and that wehave a real purpose for being born and living. We can love ourselves no matter our faults, because every one of us is on a journey to live, learn and love. We can be kind to ourselves and, if we need to separate ourselves from toxic things or people, we can acknowledge our right to do that. Start from a place of love and self-respect and you will not need to look for it from other people. Remember, ‘finding happily’ is not an ending, it’s a journey.